We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Machiel Bornman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Machiel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Not that long ago I lived and worked in South Africa not knowing anyone in the USA when I saw an opportunity to do a mediumship workshop in California. The odds were against me, but my intuition kept pushing to do it. My mind kept reminding me of the logistical challenges – how much it would cost, having to apply for a visa to the US, navigating my way through a new country seemed very frightening. I took the leap of faith – I booked the tickets and made my way to San Diego not knowing what to expect at the very least. It took months of planning and preparation, but when the plane landed in California I instantly felt at home. One step lead to the next, I made a friend here and I made a friend there. And I met an amazing community through the mediumship workshop. Through them I managed to find a job as a nanny for a new born and lived with an incredible family for some time. I still see the kid often and will attend his 7th birthday soon! I recently obtained my citizenship to the USA and work as a psychic medium in California.

Machiel , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a Psychic Medium currently working and residing in Los Angeles, California. My journey had an interesting origin in this life time as I was born and raised a farm boy in South Africa. It’s quite the contrary life experience here and it has most definitely been an adjustment. But I have been enjoying living in LA and surrounding areas and fell in love with California from the moment I arrived. I had a wonderful childhood, but I was always aware of things other people didn’t see or feel. I could always clairvoyantly see colors around people or a bright light behind them and sometimes faces and images would flush my mind. I didn’t have much of an outlet for these experiences but I mentioned what I saw and luckily my family was interested and supportive of some of these communications and experiences I’ve had. I met my first teacher when I lived and worked in Johannesburg as a graphic designer after I needed some life advice from a difference source. He identified and explained that I was myself psychic. Since then I’ve studied and developed my ability to communicate with people in Spirit with teachers in South Africa, United Kingdom and a mediumship course in San Diego with a well renowned medium changed my life. I found my way back to the USA through a job as a nanny for an amazing family. I’ve obtained my citizenship to the US and have been doing mediumship and psychic readings in person, online and at a crystal shop in Burbank. And I’ve developed my own oracle deck as my latest project!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

There have been many challenges along the way, but something I’ve experienced a lot in life is loosing someone close to me. Whether it be a family member, close friends or a pet – I’ve had to be there when they cross over. I was born into a big family and I’ve had to say goodbye to most of them. It was after my best friend passed away at 34 when I wanted to start a new life in a new place. I was guided through mediumship to a workshop in San Diego and one small step at a time lead to another experience and found my way into a new community. I’ve started a new life in the US, but I’ve had to give up a lot and adapt to a new culture and realign my identity over and over again. Before making my way here I did not know anyone in the US and it was a very scary decision to pack my luggage and head over to a foreign country on the other side of the world not knowing what to expect. Having to navigate paperwork and logistics to get into the USA was a challenge on it’s own. And shortly after moving to the US my mom fell ill with cancer during the pandemic and saying goodbye to her was one of the hardest ones. But being able to see and talk to people on the other side has provided comfort knowing life continues after death and their love and support remains in a pure form. I’ve experienced their presence in undoubtable ways. During my journey I’ve had to take many ‘leaps of faith’ and jump into the unknown, but through consistent spiritual practices I’ve trained myself to navigate through these life challenges and embrace the good and be grateful for it when it’s present.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

I do personally believe that other than obtaining training in mediumship is having life experience itself. When you’ve had an experience in a specific situation, the Spirit world will draw form it during a reading if they had a similar experience and communicate messages in such a way the medium resonates with it. And of course taking time to develop the craft through teachings from other mediums and taking workshops is always helpful in developing communication.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mediummachiel.info
• Instagram: medium_machiel
• Facebook: Machiel Bornman
• Other: https://gofund.me/bbbf345b